Lipscomb Bisons defender Garrett McLaughlin scored a pair of second half goals and goalkeeper Brent McGee made a pair of saves in a 2-0 win over UNC Asheville Friday night in the first round of the Hyatt Place Select/Lipscomb Invitational at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex.

The win was a touch of revenge for the Bisons who lost to UNC Asheville 2-1 in last season’s tournament. The hosts Bisons, 3-2, close out the tournament Sunday at 4 p.m. against UAB.

“We’ve got a lot of new players who weren’t aware of last year’s game with UNC Asheville,” Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said. “But we talked about it before the game.

“Last year we started to see cracks in the armor in that game. After that game it was sort of a downhill slide. It was a game that we left slip away.”

UAB, ranked 25th in the country in one poll, beat Belmont 4-1 to improve to 4-1 on the season. UNC Asheville slipped to 2-2 with the loss to the Bisons.

“Our style is very similar to UAB’s,” Morrow said. “I think it is going to be a very entertaining game to watch.

“UAB is big and athletic. They can battle and beat you physically. But they also move the ball well. UAB is a very technical team.”

The Bisons attempted 15 shots with six being shots on goal. The Bisons defense held UNC Asheville to only five shots, two on goal.

“There were times in the first half that I thought we were playing as good as I have seen not only this year, but in my tenure here,” Morrow said. “Our ball movement and our decision making were both as good as I have seen at times.

“The challenge is to do it for a complete game. Asheville is a tough team. It was a very disruptive team that created some challenges for us.”

Morrow expected the game to not only be a clash between the players, but also a test of the systems run by both teams.

“They got us out of our playing style and system,” Morrow said. “For us to fight through and maintain our system was good.”

McLaughlin scored his first goal at 70:43 of the second half with a shot from just outside the box that found its way into the net. At 72:56 he scored on a penalty kick.

No Bisons' player scored more than one goal in a game last season. it is the first time McLaughlin has scored two goals in a game in his collegiate career.

"I like to shoot from anywhere on the field," McLaughlin said. "I had an open shot on the first goal. I think it moved a little bit and it gave the goalie a hard time. If I had missed the penalty kick for the second goal it would have been pretty embarrassing."